June arrived with the monsoon still missing, and I stayed largely in a holding pattern. July didn’t change that much. There were signs of monsoon revival towards the end of July. Main reason for pause and slow progress is stated below:
Hydroponics and aeroponics remained paused through both months. The new sowing didn’t happen — procrastination played a part, but the bigger reason was wanting to scale up properly this time: more crops, more slots, and a repeat of the last batch at a larger scale. I also want to get the structural side right before restarting — sturdier support for the aeroponics towers so they don’t lean on windy days, and a proper support structure for the Dutch buckets. The tomato plants leaning to the ground in an earlier post were a reminder of that; upright, they’d have had a much better shot at the fruit actually maturing.
Microgreens stayed where they were too. No new batch added yet.
The bees are stable. Watching their progress, nothing dramatic to report, which with bees is often the point.
On the animal husbandry front, progress has been slower than I’d like. The deal has legal and practical complexity that’s taken longer to work through than expected. The other founder was also unwell for a couple of weeks, which paused things further. Nothing has moved here recently, but the groundwork conversations will pick back up.
Mid-July took me on a family visit that turned into a bit of a temple trail. Wrote about that separately if you want the fuller version.
In the background, Mysore Grahakara Parishat has revamped their website. Worth a look and find ways to engage, if the work speaks to you.
Two months heavier on waiting than on progress. The hydroponics reset is still coming. The bees keep doing their quiet work in the meantime.